It has been sad to witness. A beloved nation in peril. Jets fans have been at war with each other since day one of free agency kicked off last Tuesday. One side is up in arms over the lack of activity. The other preaches patience and prudence. While defeatist throwback subset the “Same Old Jets” clan who have remained out of the fray, remind both sides that no matter what path or player the Jets decide upon, it will always be the wrong one.

From Revis the Patriot to receivers signing elsewhere, week one left those who wanted an entirely brand new roster ready to riot while the other reasoned that the quality available was not worth using up cap space or overpaying for.

I’m one of the diehards who is prepared to give John Idzik the entire offseason to see what a year with some financial flexibility means in terms of a new foundation. The discomfort that stems from within many of the ones who want to storm the Florham castle however is understandable.

Idzik has no prior track record as a GM for any to hang their hat on and say “We know how he handles his business and he has won before. Just let him do his thing.” Secondly, the Jets send, surprise surprise, mixed messages and not that they should, but have done little to refute or confirm recent reports that nowadays break daily.

Do the Jets want real veteran competition for Geno Smith? It seems as though they did as 2013 came to a close. If so, the desire to lock up and even overpay a bit for a Michael Vick (even if he and a few others are holding out hope they will be named starter wherever they should land) might have been a bigger part of the initial plan.

There was no Jet brass member calling the story that the team wants Geno Smith on a Mark Sanchezian type pitch count next season. It appeared that the team had finally recognized a more wide open offense was necessary in the new NFL. This after grabbing Marty Mornhinweg to call the the plays last season. A switch back to yet another ground and pound can’t be enticing to any receivers looking to put up numbers in a new home. Can it be true? Why won’t anyone call the report utter nonsense?

It has come to the point where as a Jet fan I expect misdirection, no need for rumor correction, and a handful of deception from the suits. After all of the lies and unnamed sources that contributed to what became known as the Jet circus, I get why Woody Johnson, Idzik and Rex Ryan do not feel the need to share or explain the current approach in place behind closed doors. Most quality teams in fact don’t talk. They just do.

My only fear, and it is an extreme one at that, is that the Jets turn into the Knicks. Where the team is not only hard to read, but behind the veil of secrecy is a lack of championship instinct and consistent talent evaluation.

It’s been a lot of years supporting both folks. Emotional scars do develop. Blind faith is where I sit, but I do so out of a willingness to try a new path under Idzik. Not out of any concrete unwavering belief that he is a born guru or that any Jets organization should be trusted enough to be left alone to take care of all matters regarding personnel and direction. I respect anyone that bleeds green and white and doesn’t share the same sentiments.

Decker Is A Great Pickup If A Bigger Eventual Threat Joins Him

Signing Eric Decker was the big splash out of Jet country last week. The move was of course overshadowed by the Patriots grabbing Darrelle Revis on the same day, but nonetheless the Jets improved their offense last week. Pairing Decker with another quality receiver on the other side or tight end eventually will only increase Decker’s effectiveness.

Decker, a physical, respectfully fast, and viable red zone option, is a tough high end number two receiver. He is not a true number one though.

Doubters will point to Decker’s inflated numbers he obtained thanks to the great Peyton Manning and will note that the Jets are dreaming if they expect him to behave like a top flight guy here. Especially with a drop in altitude from Manning to Smith. Those same doubters will need to be reminded that he still caught forty passes from throwing challenged Tim Tebow and scored 8 TDs in 2011 as well.

The Jets offense is better immediately with Decker but they need to acquire more help and better not be of the mindset that he is their “1,” has enough surrounding him, and that it’s wise now to concentrate on other position groups.

Forget Revis

First we wondered, then we dreamed, then we let out shrieks of horror. Is Darrelle Revis really getting released? Is it true that he wants to be a Jet again? Oh my god nooooo! Revis is on the Patriots!!

We all have our theories as to what went down and why. Woody didn’t want to deal with the contract demands again. Idzik wants to spend and build in other areas. The Jets were used by the Revis team as leverage with the Pats. Belichick wanted to stick it to us again. On and on and on. You know what? It’s time folks. It really is. The Jets and the fan base HAVE TO get over what the Patriots are doing. Maybe in fact,this shows that the Jets already have. They didn’t blink as their former best player took his talents to the Evil Empire.

For the fans, I guess its harder. Many still loved Revis. and the hated Pats, of all team he could wind up with, have owned the AFC East forever. They have a Coach in Bill Belichick who hates the Jets even it was him who left an organization at the podium not the other way around, and have the seemingly eternal winner in Tom Brady leading them. Regardless of who surrounds him. The only way the Jets can wind up playing in January it seems is as a Wildcard road dog. How could Revis, who lived with that scenario for so long be so insensitive as to join the other side? Curse him! Right? Wrong.

Here’s the thing. The Jets know it’s still about beating Brady, not some cornerback. Darrelle Revis if healthy, is an upgrade over Aqiq Talib, but he’s not a massive upgrade. Talib is a top corner in this league. It’s not as if Revis was replacing a Kyle Wilson up there.

Let’s also not forget that the Jets beat the Patriots with a JV offense last year and will get pumped up twice next year as they always do for the matchup. Rex Ryan will make sure of that. With a young defensive line poised to wreak even more havoc in the pocket. Brady ain’t any getting younger and more mobile either.

More importantly, the Jets have to build their team based on what they believe can be successful over sixteen games, not simply two. Splitting with the Pats in the regular season ends up meaning nothing when your club is not designed physically or emotionally to have success in places outside of Foxboro.

Forget Revis. Better yet, grab some more bodies who can attack him with Decker all over the field in 2014.

Here’s The Thing With Rogers Cromartie

If the Jets somehow win the rights to Dominique Rogers Cromartie today or this week, it will lessen the need to thrust an unproven Darrin Walls alongside a promising but not yet fully cemented talent in Dee Milliner. Let’s not build the guy up into more though please. Nobody was talking about this Cromartie, the one with two last names last week. It has only been since other options began evaporating that desperation set in.

I like the old Cro. The loyal one. The one who if healthy had pride and heck I still see him putting it all together here. Knowing he most likely is gone to Arizona, I would be thrilled if the Jets got DRC and didn’t have to entertain thoughts of a high draft pick on of all things, yet another cornerback. I won’t cry if he winds up elsewhere though, especially with a big fat giant salary.

The long term plan as difficult as it is to accept these days since Idzik has proven very little win column wise yet, has to be consistent across the board. Both athletically and financially. Otherwise it’s just another Jet team throwing big money around without a solid floor to stand on.

Quick Hits

– I would have loved to keep Austin Howard but am thrilled that the Jets didn’t break the bank for him like the Raiders did.

– I dig Howard’s newly signed replacement, former Seahawk Breno Giacomini already. Breno came here because he liked the Jets “style of play” (whatever that means, but hey, I like his enthusiasm) and Idzik personally.

Then Giaco who grew up right outside of Boston said that he hopes to “bring a little bit of nastiness” and “play like an O-lineman should play.” On the Patriots he added “Maybe after the game will be a lot better. I can tell my friends and family that are all Patriots fans to go kick some rocks. It’ll definitely be fun after we win.” I like where your head is at Breno.

– Calvin Pace is back on a two year deal. Okay, the signing was a nice depth move. Pro Football Talk broke the Pace news however by adding “The Jets need to begin targeting a true franchise pass rusher to book end Quinton Coples. After signing Eric Decker, perhaps they’ll pursue one in the draft’s first round.” What?!!

That would be insanity especially if a top receiver was still on the board. The Jets have to improve the offense and if Rogers Cromartie were to land elsewhere, perhaps the secondary. A pass rusher? Idzik can’t be THAT ignorant.

– I see some flickers of talk on twitter today about the idea of Desean Jackson. As I just tweeted, any talk of D Jax makes me want to run and dance around like Mark Gastineau after a sack.

I know I know. The gang bang signs he’s made. The attitude problems. The this, the that. How about the catch eating, touchdown making, constant downfield threat he is as well? D Jax and Decker. Line up like that, and I’d be comfortable in saying to any fan of any allegiance, “bring it on.”

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Lidman

Ian Rappaport suggesting NYJ are interested in S Rice.

Worldboy90

Quick Question Joe,

In my opinion Idzik already missed out on too much talent in FA; anyone we sign from this point is a complete gamble, or “stable veteran” aka a passable JAG or talent past his prime. Despite the Draft, I just don’t think we can add enough talent to the roster to become a play-off contender. With us playing NFC North, (I wager 1-3), pats twice and broncos (0-3), and I say we’re lucky to go 6-3 against everyone else, I really think 7-9 is our ceiling next year. As sad as it is, i feel like Idzik is setting up REX to get fired with a bare-bone roster so he can bring in “his guy”, which is BS.

What would your opinion be if we miss the play-offs and Rex gets fired with this bare-bones roster?

Joe Caporoso

I honestly think it is a pretty crazy theory Worldboy.

It is so, so early to say the Jets have a bare-hone roster and to project their record against teams and divisions. The season is 6 months away.

John X

Nicely crafted piece, TJ. I enjoyed it.

I personally would only differ on the value of DRC who checked in as PFF’s #3 overall CB last season and has found his way as a cover corner. He obviously is a bit of a head case but nothing Rex can’t fix as he did with his cousin.

STEVEN

THE JETS GET ANOTHER TE, CB AND WR IN THE OFFSEASON AND THEN TRADE UP IN THE DRAFT TO GET CLOWNEY. TOM BRADY WILL NOT LIKE FACING THE JETS. FACING THE NYJ DEFENSE WILL MAKE ALL QB’S SHAKE IN THEIR BOOTS. THAT WOULD BE THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE TO REVIS AND THE PATS. GETTING CLOWNEY ON THE CHEAP FOR 4 YEARS WILL MAKE THE JETS FUN TO WATCH. CLOWNEY AND COUPLES WILL TEAR THEM TO PIECES

Worldboy90

I always wondered what a person who writes in all caps online looks like in person… I imagine someone twitchy and a little dirty tbh…

And let me rephrase that question Joe. In your opinion, if Rex gets fired with this roster for not reaching play-offs, would it be well deserved? There, a lot less emotion and accusation in that statement.

Right on! Why are we thinking of whether to trade up for Watkins when we should be trading up for Clowney? The Patriots signed Revis? Just kill Brady. Without Brady, I bet the Patriots trade Revis by Tuesday. Next year’s goal needs to be to arrange a Lewis-Bledsoe style greet-and-meat for the Foxboro pretty boy. Bring on the pass-rushers!

LeeBur

Only way Rex should get fired is if he loses the locker room or makes several bone head decisions that costs us 2-3 wins or the team dosent improve throughout the season.

Worldboy90

And of course our resident philosopher Kash, he the reader of twenty novels at once, agrees with mr.twitchy lol. Right, we’re getting clowney, spot on guys… That’s exactly what we need, not a single Line backer that could cover, and a SS that can’t cover well, no good FS, and below average CB’s. That’s how we stop Brady’s spread attack.

http://semiosphereconsulting.com Dan in Bradley Beach

Joe, your’s is the voice of reason in a Jets-world inhabited by people who think football is fantasy football. Idzik is building a team. It’s nowhere near complete so critiquing it is silly. Let’s see what our personnel looks like when we break camp and prep for game#1. Then we can START to judge. Better yet, let’s see how the season goes before we judge the job idzik does this off-season. Good stuff as always Joe. That’s why this is my favorite Jets site.

Lidman

Dan IBB..solid comment, but what has Idzik done, in his past, to tell us what he’s doing will work? Critics of Tanny like to point out how he put the team in ‘cap hell’, yet they fail to remember he did have a team that went to 2 consecutive championship games.

I don’t know how old you are, but if you have a High School age child and that child gets a 1Q progress report that shows they aren’t doing well in Math, SS, English and Science, would you accept an answer of: “Dad, don’t worry, I have a plan. Don’t judge me until the end of the year”?

All we’re doing here is ‘marking to market’. You are 100% right, in the end, we won’t know what has and hasn’t worked until the games are played. But, right now, the progress report isn’t looking too good. It’s time someone had a talk with his kids about his grades, in my opinion.

John X

I don’t recall Joe saying anything of the sort here. Hmm…
And you are now claiming everyone is silly (insulting) for not agreeing with your mindset.
That’s the kind of talk that gets me going. Sanctimonious talking down to as if your way is the only way and everyone else are idiots.

Some of us WILL judge and we have the right to (that’s what this site is for in part) and if Joe were so great, he wouldn’t allow for posters like you to freely insult others. Until then, this site isn’t so great IMO and neither are you. In fact, he takes part in the ridicule. Great guy he is.

John X

Lidman,

You hit a point that’s so prevalent in today’s society: no one can criticize. We all must sing kumbaya and never know what we can improve upon as a result of critical feedback. It’s actually political correctness run amok to the point where it is debilitating and halts any chance towards progress. Any criticism is met with words like “bullying” or “war” or “negativity”. On the contrary, we should embrace such feedback as learning opportunities. We can only learn from our mistakes. But I digress, this is a football forum.

Lidman

JX..power to the pulpit..Joe set up the site, earned the following, so he reaps the spoils.

See folks, it’s not just Revis I don’t have a problem with leveraging his position.

JX..don’t get angry..the written word can not allow for context, so what you may read as insulting, may not have been meant that way.

Love your passion…

Oh, have I mentioned how badly Idzik screwed up by not signing Revis, for the paltry sum of $12mm this year???

Love the debate..even from Kash..need a good Kashism today.

Lidman

“See folks, it’s not just Revis I don’t have a problem with leveraging his position.”

Double negative..awful!

Should read: “See folks, just as Revis does, I don’t have a problem with anyone leveraging his/her position.

glegly

All the things I’ve read say same thing: the first few days of F/A is a sprint – often marked by dumb money – and then the rest of the period is a marathon. We’re now in the first leg of the marathon, and so far, no dumb moves.

Look, we can’t compete with the ‘arms race’ that the Pats and Broncos are doing because we need BODIES as much as we need talent. Those teams need to fill 1 or 2 positions – we’re looking at filling maybe 5-6 starting positions, if not more.

We spend the $12MM on Revis – and I loooooooooooooved Revis – and that’s a lot less $$$ to spend on the other 4-5 spots. 2009-2011, we were the dumb money team, thinking we were in an arms race, getting bullets when what we needed was a new gun. (No idea if that analogy made sense, but F it, it made sense to me). I just hope we don’t let the pitch go by without a swing.

Enough baseball-cold war-marathon analogies for one day…

Frank Antonelli

John X, Worldboy90 and Lidman are like teenage girls who are never satisfied and have no patience.

Some of the clowns that are criticizing Idzik for exhibiting patience would turn around and criticize him for spending too much. Just like the clown media we have clown fans who turn whatever the Jets do into a controversy. Get a life clowns.

Nikolas

Franky Antonelli… do you want some candy?

Lidman

More personal attacks from Frank Antonelli, whose never added a single thing to these forums, but to point out how anyone who disagrees with his view is a ‘teenage girl’ and a ‘clown’.

Well said Frank…now go get your shine box.

Glegly,

Again, it’s fair to criticize Tanny for the 2009 spending spree, so long as you cite those 2 deep playoff runs we all enjoyed watching. If the cuts Sanchez, and has roughly 38mm, in cap space, I don’t see how spending $13mm on 1 player..ANY player, at any position the team nees would be a devastating blow to its long term salary cap structure. If you’re talking about an elite player, I think the argument is even stronger.

Frank…I look forward to your next batch of wisdom and critical comments.

Joe, you do a great job with all of this. Covering our jets is no easy task. Ourfiathful is wounded, (I was 3 when we won our last Super Bowl… lots of wounds). I am still willing to give Idzik time and space to see his plan through. Clearly there are plenty of examples of cap friendly teams spending recklessly and having little to show for it.

Here’s what worries me….First, missing out on a tier one CB in FA was a blunder, period. 2nd, realistically we still need starters at CB, S, WR and TE. Guard and OLB too, if you have worries like me that Winters and/or Colon may not be the answer and Pace is one injury away from retirement. Add a back up QB to the mix, (I would be perfectly happy with Jason Cambell by the way… anyone else???).

I get that we have 10-12 picks but that is putting an awful lot of pressure to draft exceptionally well. Last year Milliner and Winters struggled most of the year and Gino had his growing pains. The only year one IMPACT rookie was SR. If we get lucky and address a few of these needs thru FA we still need to hope that the draft yields us 2-3 year one impact rookies to improve upon a promising end to last season.

Worldboy90

@Frank

I was pretty satisfied with tanny for 4-5 years… Thought the Tebow thing and not being able to find quality WR depth was his undoing, but the man kept us very competitive. I’m just saying that we had glaring holes, we had the money to fill those holes, and we didn’t. Now we’re dumpster diving, and I think that is a massive mistake which will lead to my favorite coach being fired and another year of losing with a QB I don’t like. I feel free to criticize. If Idzik had simply added a decent guard and a good player to the secondary, I’d be singing his praises. But atm, and with the current remaining FA class, I see no more moves the man could make to improve the team.

Clemons at safety is a lateral move, and i think he’s already played his best ball; he was never that impressive in Miami in the first place. I think DRC is streaky, and while I’d love to see CRO resigned, Idzik seems to be low-balling him as well. And Our O-Line is significantly worse than last year at this current stage; Brick and Mangold are older, our RT is in best case scenario the same but 3 years older, we have an empty guard spot and winters who was down-right awful for majority of the season.

I thought the decker move was fantastic, but the inactivity since then while everyone else gets better is not an excuse; not messing up doesn’t make you a good gm by handing out contracts. And yes, “Build through the draft”, “Build through the draft!” everyone says, but every single team has draft picks and builds through the drafts; its an even playing field. Just because we have a couple more 6th and 7th rounders does not give us some kind of huge advantage.

But no Frank, not satisfied whatsoever with this free-agency; one decent pick-up and now we’re dumpster diving. It wouldn’t have taken alot on Idzik’s part to upgrade the O-line and secondary, really just 2 players, but instead he’s turned those two into major weaknesses as of now.

Lidman

Well said Mike…we’re just supposed to assume Idzik is going to find 6 new starters in this year’s draft class. You did leave out Ivory, who was essentially this team’s 4th round pick. Aboushi and Campbell were 5th and 6th rounders who gave the team nothing. In the 7th we found Idzik’s son’s best friend, Bohannon (the Scotty McKnight of this era), who proved nothing more than playable. So, based on the Sheldon Richardson pick, getting Ivory (who was decent), picking up David Nelson and not overspending, in this year’s FA class, we’re supposed to have confidence in Idzik.

God I hope I’m so wrong. I would be so happy to be wrong here. Maybe Milliner/A Allen/Coples become All Pro Caliber players. Maybe A Berry and D Walls are pleasant suprises and D Davis becomes an all around great ILB. Maybe Nelson thrives, Decker proves he’s bona fide #1 WR, Winters becomes solid NFL G and Breano (we’ve got to have Breano) is just as nasty good as he says he is. Maybe Geno takes a Russell Wilson like step. Maybe Stephen Hill becomes Joe’s favorite NYJ WR, hi-pointing balls like nobody’s business. Then maybe Idzik drafts both the OROY and DROY with their top 2 picks..he finds great OL in the middle rounds and finds the next Richard Sherman/Kam Chancellor in rounds 5 and 6.

It could all happen…I mean if a plane can disappear off the face of the earth, with no trace…this is a piece of cake.

LeeBur

That was pretty funny Lidman. honestly spit my drink onto my monitor.

You are right though that the chances of all that happening are doubtful for this year. But im still under the belief that this team is years away. if idzik hits on half his picks this year, half next year, maybe make another FA signing like decker, we are good shape talent wise and cap wise.

glegly

@Lidman I too was a fan of Tanny’s, particularly his “trade up for draft quality, sacrifice draft quantity” philosophy, thinking we were just 1-2 players away. Only to see it blow up in our faces when things went south, and fast.

We need a broad talent base, with a few studs. Yeah, the Seahawk model. How many guys went down with an injury or (cough, cough) suspended, and they just kept rolling?

BTW, had Tanny lasted one more year, and Woody fired him at the end of THIS season and he then hired Idz a couple of months ago, fresh off helping building what looks like the newest dynasty-in-waiting, we’d all be peeing in our pants we’d be so happy.

I vote patience. And yeah, a little blind faith.

John X

Mike, Worldboy and Lidman:

Where have you been the past 3-4 days? Refreshing to see some reason. I’ve been the only voice against everyone here just simply telling it as it is. Yeah, it’s criticism but it’s criticism that’s deserved. No one can claim this team doesn’t have holes and what is being done about it? Nothing. The result, a lot of 2nd-3rd tier starters in those holes will be filled. Good luck with that, Rex.

The depth of logic has been humorous to justify Idzik’s lack of signings. Thank god someone understands that the math doesn’t quite fit for the draft alone to fill our needs. These posters can’t comprehend this.

glegly

@Lidman Great close to your post, btw, with the plane just up and vanishing which proves anything’s possible.

Sounds like something out of “Lost,” rt? Guess what this week is – the 10th anniversary of “Lost” going on the air! There’s some reunion going on today. Whooooooooa.

Lidman

LeeBur, if my Aunt had testicles, she’d be my uncle.

TJ,

In response to your ‘Forget Revis’ section, Revis was PFFs top ranked CB last year. Talib finished the year ranked 58th. Now, even if PFF isn’t the be all, end all, many of us refer to their work, so it holds some weight. You say: “Darrelle Revis if healthy, is an upgrade over Aqiq Talib, but he’s not a massive upgrade.”

Regarding this statement: “That would be insanity especially if a top receiver was still on the board. The Jets have to improve the offense and if Rogers Cromartie were to land elsewhere, perhaps the secondary. A pass rusher? Idzik can’t be THAT ignorant.”

Look, unless Milliner really steps up, we sign any Cromartie, or get an unexpected performance from one of the Wilson/Walls/Berry triumvrant, our CB spots look a bit suspect (I know..a lot of time before we break camp). On top of this we’re counting a AA to continue to progress and have nothing spectacular at FS. Well, the NYG proved, if you can put pressure on the QB, you can get away with average secondary play, so targeting a speed rushing demon doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me. Just think, if 7 of Pace’s sacks came with the QB holding the ball for 4+ seconds, and 2 others came when he went unblocked (because of a blown assignment), how much could a true blue pass rusher, combined with Coples and further development from Sheldon help out that secondary?

John X

Nice post glegly, but off the mark and here’s why: this isn’t about patience. And Idzik has deftly set the team up with multiple 3rd day picks to address the depth Tanny ignored. What you and so many others are mis-interpreting is that Idzik is NOT sitting back and being patient. He is targeting numerous FA’s. We can link a lot of FA’s thus far but the point is he can’t sign them. He’s either low-balling them or not negotiating effectively. This is the failure.

I repeat, this is not about patience. You guys are not processing data correctly if you believe this. The Jets have been as aggressive as any team but just don’t have a lot to show for it.

And if they are so “patient”, who are they targeting at say CB? Terrell Thomas? Champ Bailey? Asante Samuel? Cro with a degenerative hip? I think it’s only fair to ask if you all are so insistent upon patience, what are we waiting for, exactly?

OG?
Safety?
OLB?
TE?
WR?

Those are six starters at minimum that are needed. We’ll all have to see how this plays out but to say that they are waiting on certain prospects would be false because they’ve been trying hard to sign many guys.

Joe Caporoso

John X, you can keep writing it and writing it but the characterization that the Jets have aggressively pursued every FA Manish has tweeted is incorrect. They’ve met with 4 people in person: Decker, Giac, Vick, DRC. Even Manish himself would disagree with equating “interest” with aggressively pursuing.

Idzik has been at Texas Tech and Lousiville 2 of the past 3 days at Pro Days, not attempting to hunt down Emmanuel Sanders who visited with 6 teams (none of which were the Jets), LaFell (who visited with 1 team and was locked up Saturday AM (check my TL history if you don’t believe that) or even DRC (who still hasn’t signed anywhere else yet, along with Jones, Rice, Vick, Clemons and on and on and on).

If you want a GM to pay 16M for a player like Pettigrew or 15M for a player like Sanders (neither of whom are very good), you are going to be endlessly mad the next few years. Just fair warning.

Lidman

Glegly,

Trading up is different than signing FA, but when you combine the two, yes it can get toxic.

Remember how much cap space this team has, it’s enormous. At some point I MUST be spent. I’m just asking for them to spend it on known quantities. If you read Mike Nolan’s piece on ‘Breno The Great’ how can you not be disgruntled? Idzik did not clearly upgrade a weakness, instead he made a lateral, at best, move to save an extra $2mm in cap space over the next 2 seasons. Really? That’s your plan. It’s not like the NBA where you know 1-2yrs out that an LBJ type will be opting out of his contract. I mean, at this point, it’s conceivable this team could have more cap room available for next year. How is that buidling a bench/or talent base? It’s not like the guy is even chasing other teams young FA.

Oh, the guy went to Dartmouth and he worked for Seattle, he must be a genius. Do you know where he was before Seattle? Tampa..model franchise..the team that was consistently under the cap, and consistently out of the playoffs.

Lidman

Joe,

Why do you look at the Pettigrew’s contract as $16mm? He got a $4mm signing bonus. He has a $1.2mm salary this year. They can cut him next year, and it’s a 3mm cap hit, or they can pay him 2.8mm and cut him after 15, for a 2mm dead money hit.

I think you need to remember the cap is going higher, a lot higher and faster than most thought it would. I’ll ask your question to you: would Pettigrew increase the talent level of this team? Would paying him something in the area of $6mm/2y be that far off his value?

As for ‘where Idzik is’. I want him in the NYJ offices working on the talent that is available now, not out looking at Jace Amaro and Teddy Bridgewater, that’s why he employs scouts. He’s the leader of an organization, one with very little scouting backround. I want him on the phone guaging interest, seeing as many people as possible so he can understand the supply/demand dynamics in an enviroment that is always changing. So, yes, I want him meeting with Emmanuel Sanders.

John X

I’m not disagreeing with the visits, Joe. If you want to believe that’s the only contact, feel free to keep your head in the sand and not tell the whole story. Because it’s very important that people believe in you.

A lot of dramatization in your posts. It would be nice if you could be honest but that’s what people who are defensive tend to do. Let me point those out:

Pettigrew signed for 4M per year. You make it sound like 16M which is misleading. And it was reported by Schefter that the Jets badly wanted him. And one could understand why. He was a solid blocking TE that flashed good receiving skills. Probably more desirable since there are zero prospect remaining in FA.
As for Sanders, I never coveted or mentioned him much once Decker was signed and never claimed the Jets were linked to him. Much like Jones was never linked in spite of your insistence to the contrary.
As for LaFell, it turns out the Jets were also very interested in him as well keeping contact with him from the beginning. The Broncos and Patriots also recognized his value and chased as well. But to you, all that matters is whether or not he “visisted”. Good for you.

I would ask you who you and others would like to see at this point at CB, TE, S, OLB, WR, OG because I’m kind of curious as to why this mythical patience is so preferable to actually landing the guys they were chasing.

John X

Well, congrats everyone. DRC signed with the Giants.

Joe Caporoso

JX – I wish I had the whole story like you and that it only took me 40K (and counting!) words per day to articulate them.

If you hate the 2014 team and have decided the roster is set in stone on March 17th, 6 months prior to the season. You can save yourself much time from now until next February. Why bother following? Season over, right?

You keep sneaking in the subtle personal insults throughout each post or demanding apologies, which I very much get a kick out of.

John X

Who said I hate the team? Those are your words, not mine. I can speak for myself just fine without your help.

Actually, you’re the one throwing in subtle insults and you should apologize to Lidman. I was clear on that, nothing subtle.

Cdot201

John X is completely right …..too many holes to be patient !! this guy is making more holes than we started with….. Can somebody tell me why Seattlelet him go if he was so good???……Im waiting

John X

I’ll ask once again to your charges, Joe – where have I insulted you? I will absolutely apologize as I have offered once before if I insulted you in any way.

Please stop making such claims if you are not going to show me where I did this. Fair?

LeeBur

Now im not happy. 5 years 35 million for DRC. we could have match or exceeded that offer. good deal for the Giants.

Cdot201

Nobody has signed contracts that was reasonable except for Howard (which wasnt even that much off) This is a fans forum so let that man have his opinion , to me it seems you Idzik fans are making a bunch of excuses everytime he drops the ball on a signing….

John X

This likely indicates that Idzik offered less. This brings yet more clarity to the suggestion that he’s not only low-balling, but not negotiating. He could be taking a hard-line stance. Whatever he’s doing, it’s not working too well.
Well, who’s next Johnny Id? That’s 9 of the top CB’s off the market now and counting.

This certainly wasn’t a case of not having enough money by the Jets. And the Giants had very little cap space remaining to begin the day. Wow.

KAsh

@JX

Your insults from just the last long post:

“If you want to believe that… feel free to keep your head in the sand and not tell the whole story. Because it’s very important that people believe in you.”

“A lot of dramatization in your posts. It would be nice if you could be honest but that’s what people who are defensive tend to do.”

“…in spite of your insistence to the contrary.”

“But to you, all that matters is whether or not… Good for you.”

“I would ask you who you and others would like to see at this point… because I’m kind of curious as to why this mythical patience is so preferable…”

Cheers. Now I get to see if John does apologize. And from the previous thread, yes, I do read minds.

mattimar

It will be very frustrating if the Jets need to go draft corners and OLB’s instead of skill positions. And that is the biggest frustration..not the fact he needs to get a CB. Seems to me he is taking the Steelers approach, and that is ok, except that most fans expected to at least come away with a guard and one db or safety along with one respectable receiver.

John X

Guys, take a chill. We’ll see what the team looks like on opening day and to criticize the team BEFORE that time is premature and unfair…and you will be accused of hating the team as a result…by the creator of this site. Oh, and subtle insults.

Cdot201

Exactly…. he has this take it or leave it attitude… This dude cant know football …it wasalot of quality player that would of made this team legit contenders without braking the bank!!…The draft is not a cure all….itsa bigger gamble cause you dont know if these guys will pan out on the next level…. you get veterans in to school the new kids ….Thats how you build a team for longevity… everybody keep trying to be the teams financial advisor , real fans want to atleast see a competive team atleast

Joe Caporoso

#Creator

Also the NYG just signed DRC and the Raiders signed Jones, which I am bummed about…and yet still not panicked.

John X

Who’s panicking? Some aren’t thrilled with the results so you are suggesting that they are panicking? Subtle insult.

joeydefiant

wow he comments section of this site has turned into a 5th grade schoolyard. there really were not many good free agents this year. i dont see why everyone wants them to throw money away that they need to sign their young stars in the next few years like mo, sheldon, coples, and milliner

John X

What position do you speak of, Joey?

At CB, it was one of the deepest ever. At TE, OG, OLB…not so much. Safety – quite good at the top. WR – not good for 1’s but for 2’s again, quite good.
I don’t know what you’re looking at or what your perspective might be but to arbitrarily claim there not many good FA’s isn’t accurate nor meaningful in any way. A lot of teams helped themselves out quite nicely by bolstering their roster with very good players with the additional bump in cap space given a few weeks ago by the league.

The comments are another thing. Some of are being told we don’t really have the right to be angry with the results. I’m one who believes in free expression and open debate in a honest fashion. What about you?

As for next year, Wilkerson is the only on the books for extension. Milliner and Sheldon are 4 years away. A 5th grade education would get you that knowledge.

Mark Phelan

No one could be pleased with how this Free Agency has gone.

We were so enthused to have the money to employ the Free Agency strategy we assumed of Idzik: Free Agents short term upgrades; draft best available talent.

Now what?

Worldboy90

@Joe

Wow man, you really got Idzik’s back no matter, through thick and skin. Like I was saying, the man seems to be able to do absolutely no wrong in your eyes. Yeah I know, “Wait till the season”, blah blah blah, we’ll draft some guys, we’ll project them as key contributors and starters, everyone will be all excited about Jace Amaro, and then we’ll go 5-11 and Idzik will say Rex couldn’t coach up his team of All-Pros.

But I mean come on Joe, outside of Decker, and only decker, Idzik has not improved the team in FA whatsoever. N if you say “Well that counts!”, imagine how awful of a gm he would be if he had not even done decker, and this FA was simply replacing our rt for an older and cheaper one?

But w.e, draft time I guess… Woo… See ya fellows in 6 months.

John X

I’ve brought that very point up for discussion and I believe there would be a full-throat mutiny had he not signed Decker to this point as well. I don’t think it really changes what has happened, quite frankly. He was very lucky to get Decker with that low-ball offer. His wife reportedly wanted to move to NY very badly – which for now, may have saved Idzik’s skin. But for fairness sake, that was a good signing and one the Jets needed badly.

He’s firmly entrenched in the notion that we should not be criticizing Idzik under any circumstances.
I couldn’t disagree more as the fans have every right not to agree with this approach that sees all the top talent gone with a vast amount of money remaining.
I’m not saying they need to spend for the sake of spending but to get Rex the talent that has been void the last few years so he can compete. Instead, we’re relegated to players like:

You can believe what you want but I think movement towards him by the Jets will speak the loudest volumes.

David

I have a theory on the CB position: The Jets, even with Cromartie on the roster at his scheduled salary, were going to be like 20-22 million under the cap. All releasing Holmes, Cromartie, and/or Sanchez would do is just add some more cap space for the team to go out and sign FA’s.

As well all know, and it is no secret even though it would be considered tampering, free agents and teams can start negotiating contracts in that 3 day window before FA officially began at 4 PM on March 11. I mean after all, we saw Branden Albert had agreed with Miami, Michael Johnson agreed with Tampa, Jared Valdheer was heading to Arizona, and Roger Saffold was headed to Oakland. All those deals were reported to being either done or finalized LONG before the 4 PM start of FA.

I believe Idzik released Cromartie because he believed he had one of the top CB’s in the FA market, whether it was Verner, Vontae Davis, whomever very close to a multi-year deal worth around the 9 million a year that the Jets saved by releasing Cromartie. The Jets didn’t need the cap space; they weren’t over the cap or anything and even with all 3 on the roster, they still could have been active if they chose to.

Davis re-signed with Indy, Verner signed with Tampa, Munnerlyn went to Minnesota, and Idzik was left with egg on his face. He made a last ditch effort to get DRC, but the Giants had already won out. Now, his only choice may be to crawl back and re-sign Cromartie or else use a 1st rounder on a CB in hopes that the Jets can find someone to start opposite Milliner.

Joe Caporoso

Well I think you can understand my hesitance in accepting that article as proof that he has a degenerative hip condition. We’ll see what happens on the open market. Jets very well may not pursue him and just go with Darrin Walls and/or a draft pick opposite of Milliner, depends what Cromartie is willing to accept financially

KAsh

@David

Or Idzik released Cromartie because Cromartie’s cap cost would have been $15 million and the market for Cromartie would be small, so Idzik could release Cromartie, save $9.5 million, try to sign another CB, and resign Cromartie as a fallback option.

As for not needing cap space, the cap space now transfers over from year to year, so a player you are overpaying this year is costing you money in the future, too. In other words, although you can keep Cromartie at his $15 million cap hit this year, that will mean $9.5 million less money to spend next year, too. If as people often say, GMs look to the long-term of their team, denying your team $9.5 million to keep an overpayed cornerback on the roster is a bad GM move.

David

@KAsh, don’t you think it would have been wise though to have a replacement locked up 1st? You could have released Cromartie at any time and saved 9.5 million.

Zeb

The Cromartie move was set in stone last year, when the team gave him an extra 2+mm, to restructure his contract. They needed to do that in order to get more cap space. Based on the Revis experience, AC had to know that even if he played at an ‘all world level’, the front office/Woody, would not allocate that much cap space to a CB.

I’ve read a number of reports suggesting the team might look to bring him back now. Right now, he’s counting $5.48mm towards the 2014 cap, no matter what they do. Based on what other CBs got, I can’t see him agreeing to play for anything less than $6mm, and I think that is actually a low number. But, if he came back for on a 1yr deal, at that number, he’d be counting nearly $11.5mm towards this year’s cap. Maybe they simply should have tried to restructure him?

KAsh

@Zeb

The $5.48 million is dead money. That is a part of the money Cromartie got when he signed on the bottom line. So you cannot include that money in a restructure. It is easier to cut and resign him than to simply restructure his deal.

@David

Cromartie was due a roster bonus at the start of free agency. If he was not cut by then, you would be paying even more money to a player that might not be on your team next year.

Zeb

KAsh

My point was more that if they were to now go out and sign AC, for 1yr/$6mm, he would count $11.48mm against their 2014 cap number..though on 2 separate line items: current cap and dead money. They certainly could have extended him, to ease the cap hit though.

Before getting cut, his cap figure was $14.98mm. If they would have given him say a 3yr/$11.5mm extension, they could have restructured his $9.5mm 2014 salary to say a $9mm sign bonus, prorated over the final 3yrs, and a $1mm salary, for this year. Doing that would have lowered his 2014 cap number to the same dead money charge of $5.48mm (the result of last year’s restructure) + $1mm 2014 salary=$6.48mm cap charge. Then the last 3yrs cap charge would consist of $3mm cap charge, for each year of the prorated bonus, and however they broke up the remaining $11mm, of unguaranteed money (roster/workout bonuses and salary), in the extension (in my scenario he got the 500k, of the extension, in the first year, to make for easy math-$9mm bonus/$1mm salary-which is just above Vet minimum). This would ultimately have been a 4yr/$21mm deal for the player.

Now, my scenario is obviously an imaginary one. I don’t know how the team would feel about extending a player, one who relies on his speed/athletic ability, through his age 33 season for $5.25mm/yr. However, when I see the deal a guy like Grimes got, I think it makes some sense, and would have been cheap and cap friendly, which would appear to appeal to Idzik.

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